A critique of impedance measurements in cardiac tissue

The specific impedance of cardiac tissue cannot be measured directly. Instead, the investigator obtains voltage and current measurements and places them into a model of the tissue's structure to infer the impedances of elements of the model. If the model fails to describe major aspects of the real tissue, the results may be worthless, although possibly self-consistent. In the literature of impedance measurement in cardiac tissue, only rarely is the model explicitly described; more commonly, the tissue model is adopted implicitly when equations giving the impedance in terms of voltage and current measurements are adopted. This paper examines the series of models that have been used in specific impedance measurements of cardiac tissue and shows how the same or similar measurements can accurately describe tissue impedivity or can lead to significant errors when inadequate models such as isotropic and anisotropic monodomains (although a part of work of historical merit) are used.     

Prestress Due to Dimensional Changes Caused by Demineralization: A Potential Mechanism for Microcracking in Bone

Microcracking in bone due to internal strains caused by mineralization is a possible mechanism of damage. Similar damage can be seen in other biological composites such as trees experiencing growth-related prestresses. Dimensional changes in cortical bone due to demineralization and experimental glycation were studied to test whether mineralization-related prestrains are consistent with observed microcracking patterns in bone. A microscopy technique that enables wet measurements of length and angle of milled bone specimens was used. Demineralization of bovine and human bones caused significant anisotropic changes in tissue size. Dimensional changes due to demineralization in bovine bone were prevented or reduced when collagen cross linking was increased by glycation. The dimensional changes of bone caused by demineralization are consistent with the hypothesis that mineralization-caused stresses in remodeling tissue can cause microcracks. © 2002 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC2002: 8719Rr     

Interpretation of skeletal muscle four-electrode impedance measurements using spatial and temporal frequency-dependent conductivities

Spatial and temporal frequency-dependent conductivities are used to interpret four-electrode conductivity measurements on skeletal muscle. The model qualitatively explains the observed dependence of the experimental data on the temporal frequency of the injected current, the angle between the electrode array and the fibre direction and the distance between the electrodes.     

Passive elastic properties of the rat abdominal vena cava

The quasistatic passive venous elastic properties were studied in-vitro on 6 cylindrical segments of abdominal vena cava from Wistar rats. Using noncontact methods of deformation measurement, diameters and axial force of the segments were analyzed as a function of simultaneous axial stretch and internal pressure in the physiological range of 0–2.7 kPa. The elasticity of the wall tissue was investigated in terms of moduli of elasticity in the circumferential, axial and radial direction. Results show that the pressure-diameter relationship is highly nonlinear, indicating that veins are extremely compliant at lowest pressures and rather stiff beginning from some 0.7 kPa of pressure. The axial force decreases with pressure at small prestretches, increases at large, but remains constant for the in-vivo prestretch. The venous wall tissue is markedly anisotropic in the entire physiological range of deformations.     

Mechanism for polarisation of cardiac tissue at a sealed boundary

If current is flowing in cardiac tissue, and if the myocardial fibres approach a sealed boundary at an angle, then the tissue within a few length constants of the boundary is polarised. This polarisation occurs when the cardiac tissue has different anisotropy ratios in the intracellular and extracellular spaces. This new mechanism of tissue polarisation is demonstrated using a simple, analytical model, and it is shown quantitatively that this polarisation can be nearly as large as that occurring near an electrode.     

Comparison of body surface potential maps simulated with isotropic and anisotropic computer heart models

Simulated body surface potential maps (SBSPM) with isotropic and anisotropic heart models were compared to investigate the effect of myocardial anisotropy on body surface electrocardiograms at a whole heart level. Rotative fiber orientations of total 90° was incorporated into an isotropic heart model. The anisotropy of conduction velocity and intracellular electric conductivity was included in the simulation. SBSPM based on epicardial, intramural, and endocardial stimulation show high correlation with fiber orientations. On the other hand, the anisotropy cannot be distinguished from the SBSPM in the simulation of normal heart model.     

应用弥散张量磁共振成像定量分析正常成人大脑白质纤维各向异性特征

目的定量分析正常成人大脑不同部位白质纤维各向异性所存在的差异.方法测量52名正常志愿者大脑白质纤维不同部位的FA值和ADC值,测量的部位有:外囊、内囊前肢、内囊后肢、胼胝体膝部和胼胝体压部.结果 FA值以胼胝体压部为最高是0.893±0.0645.统计分析大脑白质各部位间FA值的差别均有统计学意义(P＜0.01).结论 FA值可定量分析大脑不同部位的白质纤维的各向异性程度.     

生物软组织链式结构的力学性质

目的应用一种新的方式描述软生物组织结构,进而研究组织中胶原纤维的力学性质。将一种虫式模型应用于描述胶原微纤维的力学行为。方法应用虫式模型分析了八链体胞的各向异性影响。所用模型在微观层次上,基于长链分子的统计学特性;在宏观层次上,则通过引进一个特征材料主轴方向上横观各向同性八链体胞模型来描述胶原链网状结构。结果以上述模型为基础分析了软组织结构的力学性质,得到了各向异性八链体胞模型的应力应变曲线。结论八链体胞模型对体胞尺度和加载角度有敏感的反应,如果能加入一些生理材料参数,模型将不仅能模拟生物软组织的消极行为,而且能模拟软组织对于力学加载环境的主动响应。